Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Aug 22, 2008 / 07:02 am (CNA).- According to a top pro-life leader in Brazil, the intense life of Marcela de Jesus Ferreira, who survived one year and a half with anencephaly, has become a strong witness that abortion supporters want to silence in order for anencephaly abortions to be legalized.

The president of Anapolis Pro-Life, Father Luiz Carlos Lodi Da Cruz, published an article this week on Marcela entitled, “Marcela: a star in the Heavens,” in which he emphasized the little girl’s contribution to the pro-life movement.

“During the time in which Marcela was with us,” he said, the legal strategy to get the Supreme Court to legalize abortion in cases of anencephaly was paralyzed.

“A few days after the death of Marcela on August 7, 2008, Justice Marco Aurelio sent a letter to several organizations inviting them to participate in public hearings on the issue. Scheduled for August 26-28, the hearings appear to be held for the promotion of abortion,” Father Lodi stated.

Of the eleven organizations invited, the priest continued, “only two are pro-life: the Bishops’ Conference of Brazil and the National Pro-Life and Pro-Family Association. Both decided to participate along with Catholics for a Free Choice and the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, which both support abortion.”

Justice Marco Aurelio “does not want to invite the families of anencephaly babies to the hearings, such as the mother of Marcela de Jesus Ferreira, who, despite suffering from anencephaly, lived for one year and eight months.”

“The mere memory of the girl is an obstacle to the approval” of abortion, Father Lodi noted. In his article he mentioned the testimony of the girl’s mother, Cacilda Galante Ferreira, and the doctors who cared for her. After Marcela’s death, her mother said she was always prepared for that moment. “She was with me for as long as God permitted. She was an angel God sent to me,” she said.

“I was sad but I did not cry. I was not losing something. God came looking for something that he gave me, the rare jewel he entrusted to my care. I feel her absence but my conscience is clear. I made the right choice: life for her,” she added.

Father Lodi said Marcela’s smiles, cries and reaction from camera flashes, her reaction to the presence of her mother, “should lead neurologists to review the conclusion that it is impossible to have consciousness without the presence of a brain.”